Heartwarming Gratitude Practice

Where the attention goes, energy flows, and results show. In this meditation, we will place our attention on the feeling of gratitude. The more you practice feeling gratitude, the easier it will be for you to find this beautiful and heartwarming feeling in everyday situations.

Transcript

Hello and welcome in the class.

This is a meditation practice.

We'll be doing a meditation focus on the feeling of gratitude.

What we practice to see in everyday life,

Wherever we put our mind,

Our focus,

The attention flows and we start to notice it more and more.

If you get familiar and practice the feeling of gratitude,

You will not only feel great on spot,

But also it will be easier to find this feeling as you move throughout your days.

And even the smallest little things will make you feel grateful.

We'll be practicing this meditation in a seated position and for that you can take your block or a bolster,

Really make it comfortable.

It is easier to keep the spine upright if the sitz bones are elevated.

So I'm going to sit up on the block.

Come into a cross-legged seat.

Please find your seat.

And we'll be ready to begin.

Place your hands down on your knees or on your thighs.

Throw your shoulders up,

Back and down a couple of times.

And then release the shoulders down and gently close your eyes.

We'll start this practice with a few deep breaths.

Your next inhale will be longer than the one before.

With your inhale,

You bring your whole awareness into your body,

Noticing every little corner of yourself.

And then you sigh out through the mouth and notice the room that you're in.

Again,

Deep,

Deep breath in.

Fill up your body with your awareness.

Exhale.

You're aware of where you are right now.

Again,

Deep inhale.

Full exhale.

Last one,

Breathe in,

Fully aware of yourself.

Breathe out,

Fully aware of where you are in this present moment.

And then you close your mouth and continue to breathe through your nose,

Allowing your inhales and exhales to be soft,

Natural.

Begin to notice your breath the way you would notice the waves at the beach.

Notice how your inhale comes and slowly the air exits your body as you exhale,

The wave returns back to the ocean.

Inhale coming in.

Exhale leaving.

Exhale.

Continue to observe your breath for a few more moments,

Noticing the inhale,

The little pause that comes at the end of the inhale,

The exhale and the little pause that happens at the end of the exhale.

Exhale.

Exhale.

If you notice your mind wandering away,

As soon as you notice,

Gently ask your mind to come back and observe your breath for a few more moments.

Exhale.

Exhale.

Your breath is soft and steady and you turn your gaze with your eyes closed to the space between your eyebrows and in your mind's eye,

Using your internal sight,

Begin to find,

Begin to look for a moment that happened in the past that made you feel happy,

That made you smile,

That felt like a treat,

A moment where you were delighted by what happened to you,

A moment you felt lucky to be you.

See if you can recreate this moment in your mind,

Taking yourself back to that situation,

Seeing yourself there,

Noticing what you were wearing,

How you looked,

Noticing the surroundings,

Maybe other people that were present and just enjoy this moment again as you replay it in your mind.

And perhaps the corners of your mouth naturally curve a little more upwards and you begin to find again this feeling of joy and gratitude that this moment was yours to experience.

See if you can find the feeling of gratitude again.

Begin to look for it in your body.

Where in my body do I feel grateful?

And maybe it's the area of the heart or maybe it's the area of your belly.

Maybe it's the whole torso that begins to light up as you take yourself back to a moment that you feel gratitude for.

And as you breathe,

See if you can feel this feeling growing stronger and stronger with every inhale.

Inhale the feeling grows stronger.

Exhale,

The feeling stays in your body.

With your inhale,

You feel this feeling expand and fill up every corner of your body,

Of your being.

And with your exhale,

It stays.

If this feeling of gratitude was a color,

It would be getting brighter and brighter right now.

If this feeling of gratitude was music,

It would be playing louder and louder.

Stay with this feeling for a moment or two.

Inhale,

Let it shine through you.

Exhale,

Know that this is yours.

Know that this is your ability to feel this way.

The feeling is always within you.

And you slowly leave this feeling.

You put it at the back of your mind and you begin to look for another such moment now,

Not in a distant past but in a close past.

Maybe something that happened earlier today or yesterday.

It doesn't matter how big or ordinary,

What made you feel good,

What made you feel grateful.

Maybe it was the sip of tea or coffee in the morning or the sun shining through your windows or the fresh breeze.

You could feel on your skin as you opened those windows.

What made you feel grateful?

And again,

You want to take yourself back to the situation recreated in your mind's eye.

See yourself,

See the surroundings,

The other people involved.

And again,

Look for that feeling of gratitude.

Feel it in your body.

Feeling that it is your capacity,

It is your skill to feel this way.

And with every inhale,

You feel this feeling growing stronger and bigger.

Maybe it has a color and this color fills up your entire body from within.

Inhale to feel your feeling of gratitude expand and fill up your whole being.

Exhale to keep it in your body.

Maybe the two corners of your mouth go a little wider apart and turn a little more upwards as you bath in the feeling of gratitude.

You slowly bring the memory from the back of your mind back to the front,

Feeling grateful for what happened in the past,

Feeling grateful for what happened just a few hours ago.

Think about a moment that is ahead of you today or tomorrow.

What moment is yet to be experienced?

And in your mind's eye,

You see yourself experiencing this moment already,

Whether it's work-related,

Friends-related,

Family-related,

Or it involves just you being on your own.

Insert this feeling of gratitude to what is yet to happen.

Already feel grateful for what is on the way and stay with that feeling for a moment longer.

See yourself experiencing that.

Feel it already in your body.

And with your next inhale,

You're going to bring this feeling all the way to the top and with your exhale,

You release it into the space.

Sit calmly for a few more moments.

And then join your hands in front of your heart.

Bow the head down and say thank you for who you are,

Thank you for what you have,

Thank you for the capacity to feel.

Slowly lift your chin up and blink your eyes open.

I thank you for joining this practice.

Wish you a beautiful day.

Namaste.

Reviews

Such a powerful meditation. The positive feelings generated were amazing. Thank you so much!!!!
Peace and love

Listening to you first thing in the morning lights me up ☀️
Ha ran amazing day🙏🏼

Beautiful soothing and positive start to the day. Thank you. 🙏🏻

Warm full body feelings of gratitude. Thank you !

Děkuju Sári 🤍 moc jsem si tuhle meditaci užila, na Bingin cliffu

It was perfect, thank you Sara 🤍